Before the arrival of Christopher Columbus in Trinidad on 31 July 1498, Trinidad was discovered by the Amerindian peoples of the Arawak Group, who lived there for centuries. The initial phase of colonisation of Trinidad by the Spanish was a slow, painstaking process. The population of the colony remained pitifully small for almost three centuries until the Cedula of Population in 1783 which endorsed foreign immigration into Trinidad. At the time Spain was unable to send her own inhabitants to colonise Trinidad, however, she knew that abandonment of such an important colony was not an option. The Cedula, in essence, was a Royal Decree granted by the King of Spain that invited the French, Irish and others to establish themselves in Trinidad. It contained twenty-eight articles which governed the settlement patterns of the new inhabitants and their slaves in Trinidad. Some in Spain objected to the influx of 'outsiders' into the Spanish colony and they questioned the loyalty of these individuals to the Spanish Crown.

The principal incentive that the Cedula offered was a free grant of land to every settler who came to Trinidad with his slaves. Every white immigrant was entitled to four and two-sevenths fanegas (equivalent to 30 acres) for each member of his family and half as much for each slave he introduced. The Governor at the time, Don Jose Maria Chacon, directed his attention to the implementation of the Cedula of 1783 which increased the population from under 3,000 to 10,422 in the short space of five years. By 1797 the population had reached 17718, of which 56.4% were slaves. The island's plantation economy was controlled largely by the French settlers, white and coloured, who had brought their slaves, capital and experience in the cultivation of cotton, coffee, sugar and other tropical export goods. Trinidad's lush forests were pushed back and plantations were established, as the colony became a creator of wealth for the planters and merchants.

British merchants also conducted a flourishing trade with Trinidad as the colony rapidly became prosperous. The British had their eyes on the colony especially as its geographical position made it the ideal base for British commercial penetration of the Spanish-American colonies. In February 1797 Chacon had under his command just over 2000 armed men all of whom were ill equipped for war and many of whom were down with yellow fever. The British under Sir Ralph Abercromby, however, comprised 6750 troops and the Metropole's unrivalled naval might. Chacon surrendered on 17th February 1797 and Trinidad was left under the governance of Sir Thomas Picton.

The colony of Trinidad has been described as an experimental colony. Its late acquisition by the British meant that the colony was new to the cultivation of sugar. It became British only ten years before the abolition of the British slave trade in 1807 and after 1807 the anti-slavery lobby concentrated on the prevention of an illegal slave trade to Trinidad. As a result of Trinidad's relatively short slave history many of the island's plantations did not have an expansive labour force. In 1838 the small force of field labourers, numbering approximately 20,656, were freed. This small labour force contrasted with the abundance of uncultivated land. Thus, in 1838 Trinidad's potential for expanded cultivation was tremendous. Until the turn of the 19th century, sugar remained the primary export of Trinidad and was more heavily capitalised than any other industry. However, it is important to note that the economy was not entirely dominated by sugar and the sugar 'barons' could not stop the development of other crops.

The great cocoa boom came in the 1870's and the last thirty decades of the century would see cocoa overtake sugar as the island's leading export. There were two ways in which cocoa estates were established. A peasant might buy a portion of Crown land, clear it and plant cocoa and after the trees began to grow he would sell his plot to a cocoa planter, getting a high value for the tree and the land. The second method was the contract system: the capitalist would buy a large block of Crown land and fell the forest. He would then enter into an agreement with contractors who agreed to plant cocoa on a quarree of land. This system suited the planter well as the actual growing of the trees was done by the contractors who would never really have a stake in the industry as owners of the land. Many of the contractors were peons, the true pioneers of the industry. The larger cocoa planters were overwhelmingly French Creoles, and so were the cocoa dealers in Port-of Spain who exported the produce and advanced supplies and credit to the planters.

Important technological advances taking place in the British processing of cocoa resulted in the growing popularity of the product as a beverage in Britain the U.S and Europe. According to Brereton, in 1866 Cadbury Brothers introduced their 'cocoa essence' and chocolate of the modern kind was being manufactured in Britain. This created an unprecedented boom in the British market which in turn was the principal reason for the boom in cocoa production in Trinidad after the 1860's.

With the depression of the 1880's and 1890's many of the weak, small muscovado sugar estates owned by French Creoles, were sold. The proceeds from the sale of their estates were then used to buy Crown lands and build large cocoa estates. Cocoa was an easy and lucrative venture which became the backbone of French Creole prosperity in the last decades of the 19th century into the 20th century. Hence, between 1890-1920, cocoa decisively impacted Trinidad's economy providing a relatively comfortable livelihood for peons, Creoles, some Indians, and made fortunes for many French Creoles.

By the beginning of the 20th century, Trinidad's economy was still overwhelmingly agricultural, with sugar and cocoa dominating the plantation sector. After all the difficulties of the 1880's and 1890's, the sugar industry was still fairly prosperous, however between 1870-1920 cocoa production would continue to boom. Signs of decline within the cocoa industry would not set in until the end of the First World War.

Couched in the lush, green hills of the Maracas Valley, St. Joseph there exists a pristine estate called Ortinola. The original Ortinola Estate spanned an impressive one hundred and thirty four and a half quarrees or approximately four hundred and thirty (430) acres. Before the capture of Trinidad by the British in 1797, the Spanish settlers of Maracas Valley earned their livelihood by the growing and sale of tobacco. Between 1700 and the 1820's sugar, coffee and tobacco gradually disappeared and were replaced by cocoa which became the chief crop of the valley. Cocoa was cultivated on a very small scale on small estates or by peasants.

The Ortinola Estate has a rich history owing to its diverse owners. Ongoing research continues to determine the original grantee of the estate and whether it was acquired from the Spanish government during the time of the Cedula of Population or, if it was granted to the original owner by the British government after they had secured the island from the Spanish. The first known owner of the Ortinola Estate, according to local archival sources, was Mr. C. Rigual. Mr. Rigual owned the estate in the year 1832 and also had in his possession a labour force of 34 slaves, which at that time, and in the ward of Maracas, constituted a relatively large establishment.

The first three decades of the 19th century was a tumultuous time for the estate owners in Trinidad as the colony had gained little from the slave trade which ended in 1807. The island's sugar industry was under developed and the labour force was insufficient to service the needs of the plantations. The next blow to the Trinidad planters would be the passing of the Emancipation act in 1834, which made the slave labourers legally free. The name Ortinola would again surface in the primary sources, this time under the proprietorship of a new owner, Cipriano Cipriani. The time period during which the estate changed hands from Rigual to Cipriani were particularly difficult years for cocoa planters and this could have prompted Rigual to sell to the wealthy Cipriani. In 1835 the claims for compensation for slaves revealed that the Ortinola Estate was owned by Cipriano Cipriani who had under his jurisdiction 36 slaves. This was further supported by the Public Register which added that the estate was a partnership between Cipriani and a gentleman identified as Andre and the estate was documented as having 31 Praedial Apprentices.

The sources reveal that the Ciprianis were a wealthy and prominent family in Trinidad. John Anthony Cipriani arrived in Trinidad from Genoa after fleeing the tyrant rule of Napoleon. He married Sophia Lieutard and the couple had two sons, Sebastian Cipriani and Cipriano Cipriani. Sebastian went on to marry the great grand daughter of Don Matas Mayan, a Galacian immigrant, whose son was the Mayor of St. Joseph. In 1851 and 1867 Sebastian was recorded as being an official interpreter of French, Spanish and Italian in the multi-lingual colony. Cipriano Cipriani had a number of occupations; he was an attorney and represented his mother Sophia Cipriani in a land dispute case involving the property of her deceased husband John Anthony. Also, in accordance with the 1836 Ordinance, that is, the " Ordinance for the making and repairing and keeping in repair the roads and bridges in the colony of Trinidad", Cipriano Cipriani was appointed Commissioner. In addition, Cipriano was a land owner, which was quite evident from the " Return of Actions entered in the Complaint Court, between January 1st 1821 and December 31st 1824", where he lodged a number of complaints concerning his estates' labour force.

In the decades after Emancipation the Maracas Valley centered primarily around subsistence agriculture. During the 1840's and 1850's it appears that the sources are silent on Ortinola which could be linked to the decline in the interest of cocoa as the Colony's colonial administration concentrated its efforts on the salvaging of the sugar industry and the importation of indentured labourers. The Index of Deeds has Ortinola recorded as coming under the ownership of one Hypolite Borde in 1867 via the court, with John Stone being the Official Assignee. The Trinidad Royal Gazette records John Stone as being a Stipendary Justice who usually oversaw land matters.

From the years 1867 to 1880 the local historical records are again silent on the subject of Ortinola Estate. However, the estate's name resurfaces during the cocoa boom period of the late 1870's early 1880's. At this time the European based metropolitan countries were attempting to extract cocoa from the West Indian colonies to supply the growing demands of the expanding confectionary industry. In Trinidad, Cadbury Brothers of Bournville, Birmingham, England purchased two estates- ("La Merced" and "Maracas Valley") in 1897. Even before the purchase of these two estates by Cadbury Brothers archival sources reveal that Ortinola Estate was acquired by C.Tennant and Company Limited for its cocoa growing potential from about 1880. This Company, later called Tennants Estates (1928) Ltd (after an amalgamation and reconstruction in the 1920's) had, as one of its Directors, Lord Christopher Gray Tennant also called Baron Glenconner.

It is clear from the schedule of properties listed in the above mentioned Deed of Amalgamation and Reconstruction in the 1920's that Tennants Estates owned many large estates throughout the Island and whilst most appear to have been sugar estates (Tennants being the owners of distilleries in Scotland) Ortinola remained predominantly a cocoa & coffee plantation in respect of which a Joint Venture existed between Cadbury Bros & Tennants Estates.

The Plantation Great House (which still stands, having been recently restored between the years 2001 to 2003) was built in the 1890's and was occupied by Mr J.P. Bain, Manager of Messrs Cadbury Brothers.

In fact, the diary of Sarah Morton, wife of the early Canadian Presbyterian Missionary, Reverend John Morton, reveals that in the year 1897 Reverend Morton had travelled by horse carriage to Maracas Valley and late that evening visited Ortinola Estate " to give communion at the house of Mr J.P. Bain, Manager of Messers Cadbury, at Ortinola Estate".

Mr J.P. Bain was apparently also called "Cocoa Bain" and was well known as an experienced cocoa planter. He apparently lived in the Great House well into the 1900's even after his retirement followed later by his daughter Janet Stanhope Lovell and her husband John Lovell.

Tennants Estates (1928) Ltd eventually sold Ortinola in the 1960's and in 1967 it became vested in a locally incorporated Company, which still owns and manages the estate.

Research continues into the rich, diverse history of this magnificent estate and presently efforts are being made to determine the original Grantee of the estate during the late 1700's to early 1800's. Knowledge of such Grantee's nationality (Spanish, Italian, French or English) may also assist in determining the meaning of the name "Ortinola".

Who knows, perhaps someday, somewhere, someone reading this historical account of one of Trinidad's cherished colonial treasures may provide these missing chapters of Ortinola's history.